#pokemon frlg
Congratulations! You’ve earned eight gym badges, not to mention foiled Team Neo-Rocket’s plans for the region. Now it’s time for you to face the final challenge of the Indigo League: the elite four and the champion!
(If you want to know more about this project and story, check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
Make sure you’re fully prepared to battle all five trainers in a row! Once you’re sure you’re ready, you’ll start by facing a brand new member of the elite four:
Jayce
Jayce is a cool dude who’s excited to take you on! He trained under former Elite Four member Lorelei, and he’s the first step in this battle marathon. His super rad team is made up of Dewgong, Delibird, Alolan Ninetails, Mamoswine, and Weavile.
If you’re able to defeat them, you’ll move on to…
Misty
After spending many years facing brand-new trainers as Cerulean City’s gym leader, Misty revels in facing off against stronger opponents. As much as she’s rooting for you, she had not intention of holding back. Misty’s built up a tough team of Starmie, Lapras, Quagsire, Lanturn, and Golduck.
Once you pass the test, the next trainer is…
Lt. Surge
Lt. Surge has always been a tough guy, and it was no surprise to anyone that he would move into a position in the elite four. He’s gonna whip you into shape and make absolutely certain that you’re up to the challenge of facing the champion. His team includes Electrode, Jolteon, Magnezone, Electivire, and Raichu, so you’re really in for a shock!
The only member of the elite four left to challenge is…
Sabrina
Sabrina and her team pride themselves on intelligence, diligence, and skill. This is the last test you’ll need to face before the champion, and Sabrina is a stern taskmaster. Though she cannot see the outcome of the battle, her clairvoyance tells her it will be hard-fought on both sides. She and her team of Espeon, Wobbuffet, Jynx, Xatu, and Alakazam are deeply connected, making them difficult to beat.
But now, it’s finally time to take on…
Champion Red
You may not be able to tell, but Red is impressed that you’ve made it this far. He is the trainer who most understands the position you’re in, and a battle with him will surely be one for the record books.
His legendary team is made up of Snorlax, Lapras, Vileplume, Machamp, Raichu, and Charizard. If you can defeat him, you will have mastered the Indigo League!
He and Professor Orchid will then induct you into Kanto’s hall of fame. They’re both quite proud of you, but it looks like your journey is not over yet: both Red and the Professor receive word that Team Neo-Rocket have set up shop in the neighboring region of Johto! The villainous team is broadcasting across both regions, warning that they fully intend to steal and capture the most powerful Pokémon they can and take both regions, if not the world, by force. Someone needs to stop them.
Are you up for the task?
There are a lot of legendary Pokémon you’ll encounter in your travels through the Kanto and Johto regions, and Team Neo-Rocket wants ALL of them.
(Want to learn more? Check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
The first legendary Pokémon you’ll encounter after leaving Lavender Town is Mew, who will appear before you at Mt. Moon, on your way from Cerulean City to Pewter City. This is also the first time you’ll run into Dante, the leader of Team Neo-Rocket, who’s trying to capture Mew with little luck. After this encounter, Mew will become a roaming Pokémon.
It will become steadily more likely to find Mew in tall grass each time you receive a gym badge, and you will gain the ability to track roaming Pokémon via your Pokédex after receiving your fourth badge. The likelihood of encountering Mew will top out at a 50% chance upon stepping into tall grass in the same area as Mew, after you have defeated the final gym in Johto. Mew maintains a consistent level of 50, which will also make it exceedingly difficult to catch, even if you do encounter it early in your journey, to say nothing of the trouble you might have training it without enough gym badges.
The next legendary Pokémon you’ll encounter are the legendary birds.
Articuno and Zapdos have maintained their posts in the Seafoam Islands and the power plant, respectively. Moltres, however, is now found on Mt. Moon. The unusual qualities that attracts Pokémon like Clefairy appears to also draw legendary Pokémon! When you encounter each legendary bird you will also face Neo-Rocket grunts, aiming to tame these powerful, elemental birds. Once you have thwarted Team Neo-Rocket’s exploitative plans you’ll have the opportunity to battle and catch the birds yourself.
However, Team Neo-Rocket has more than just the legendary birds on their agenda. You will encounter them again after you have defeated Erika (the penultimate trainer on your Indigo League gym challenge), when they cause problems on the newly-settled Cinnabar Island.
Team Neo-Rocket are on the island searching for the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo, who they have reason to believe is hidden away in the island’s now-dormant volcano. To this end they have defeated every trainer in the Cinnabar gym, including Fina’s strongest team, and used explosives to damage the gym building. Behind the gym–an area usually blocked off and inaccessible to anyone but gym/lab personnel–is a cave entrance in the side of the volcano.
In enlisting your help to defeat Team Neo-Rocket, Fina explains the situation to you: Mewtwo was created from Mew, and mistreated by the scientists that cloned it from Mew/mutated its DNA. This project was partly funded by Team Rocket, and the goal was to create the absolute most powerful Pokémon. They arguably succeeded, but in doing so they created an angry, cold-hearted being, filled with rage for the control and abuse it suffered at the hands of humans.
In the decades since Mewtwo’s creation, however, it has become more comfortable with humans. Champion Red and Professor Orchid have both worked with Mewtwo to communicate that humans are not exclusively exploitative and evil, and that Pokémon training is a cooperation between trainer and Pokémon, not the absolute control of a Pokémon by its trainer. Leader Fina herself has been working closely with Mewtwo, after her mentor, Blaine, made amends with the legendary Pokémon.
Mewtwo now lives on Cinnabar Island, taking refuge in the caverns and caves of the dormant volcano, which is further maintained through Mewtwo’s power, assuring that the humans and Pokémon on the island will be protected from the natural dangers of the volcano. But now, Team Neo-Rocket are barging into Mewtwo’s refuge, with the full intent of destroying it, capturing the Pokémon that have found protection here and forcing Mewtwo back into servitude for the benefit of Team Neo-Rocket.
In the caves and the heart of the volcano, you’ll find many lush, grassy spaces amongst the rocks, and a wide variety of Pokémon. Most notably, this island hideaway is home to Growlithes/Archenines, Dratinis/Dragonairs, Magbys/Magmars, and is one of the few places where you can encounter Crobat in the wild.
Throughout the caves, Neo-Rocket grunts will work to stop you in your tracks, and when you finally reach the deepest cavern in the heart of the volcano, the leader of Team Neo-Rocket, Dante, challenging Mewtwo. You’ll need to battle Dante to protect Mewtwo’s new home, and all of the Pokémon who live here!
Once you have defeated Dante, Mewtwo will comment that they were impressed by your skill in battle and your closeness with your Pokémon. Because of this, Mewtwo makes an offer to you that, once you have obtained your final gym badge, if you can defeat this legendary Pokémon in battle, Mewtwo will join your party. As such, you can return to Cinnabar island any time after defeating gym leader Blue, and take on Mewtwo.
Their defeat on Cinnabar Island will have weakened Team Neo-Rocket, so your next step will be to take them on in their own headquarters, back in Vermillion City. Once defeated on their own turf, Team Neo-Rocket will retreat deeper into the shadows.
However, they aren’t truly defeated yet. Upon entering the Kanto hall of fame, you’ll discover that Team Neo-Rocket has reappeared in the neighboring region of Johto, and they are still dead-set on securing power through legendary Pokémon…
There’s one thing you can always count on in your travels across Kanto and Johto: Indigo will always be there to challenge you.
(Want to learn more? Check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
You and Indigo grew up together in Lavender Town, and he’s always had something to prove. He’s been waiting years to have a Pokémon of his very own, and is now determined to take on the Indigo League!
Indigo is intensely focused on battle strategy, and will sometimes share tips and tricks with you, though always with a bit of a snide edge. After all, if you were a great trainer, like him, you’d already know this stuff!
However, not everyone is inclined to point out his attitude problem, since he does have the badges to back himself up! He’s always one step ahead of you in your gym challenge, and is a valuable ally on the occasions when you team up against Team Neo-Rocket.
The one challenge he struggles to master is defeating Champion Red. In fact, you meet Indigo out front of the indigo plateau. He defeated the elite four, but was unprepared to face the champion. He challenges you to a battle, and you can’t challenge the league for yourself until you have bested his fully-evolved starter (whichever one has type advantage over yours), Marowak, Haunter, Raichu, Fearow, and Dragonair.
Indigo does not take this defeat lightly, and insists on following you into Johto, where he can continue training and getting stronger. You will encounter Indigo a few times as you travel the Johto region, but the two of you will challenge each other less often. It will be more common to fight as a duo against Team Neo-Rocket in your efforts to keep them away from Johto’s legendaries. However, you will face Indigo again before taking on Johto’s Elite Four and Champion. This time, his team will consist of his starter, the highest evolution of the starter Pokémon that Associate Professor Gold entrusted him with (which, once again, has type advantage over yours), Dragonite, Gengar, Xatu, and Marowak.
Once you have defeated Johto’s champion, you will be able to find Indigo back in Lavender Town on weekends, where you can challenge him to a battle.
Things are not so peaceful in the Kanto region. Some hooligans calling themselves Team Neo-Rocket are stealing people’s Pokémon, making threats, searching for legendary Pokémon, and attempting to take control of the region.
To learn more about Team Neo-Rocket, keep reading! You can also find out more about this project in the Memories of Kanto tag.
The first way you may encounter Team Neo-Rocket is on TV or over the radio. They have their own broadcasting setup in their headquarters in Vermillion City, though they really want to take over the radio tower in Lavender Town. If you tune in to one of their broadcasts, you’ll hear a lot about how powerful Team Neo-Rocket is, as well as hear promotions for the lottery that they run from their HQ.
You’ll run into Team Neo-Rocket in many places along your journey. They generally have teams of poison-, normal-, or ground-type Pokémon, and can often be found hassling lower-level trainers and causing problems for the gym leaders. Janine, Erica, and Blue in particular are consistently at odds with Team Neo-Rocket. Janine considers them a bad influence on poison-type trainers and the reputation of the poison type, whereas Erica takes responsibility for keeping them away from the old Celadon game corner, which has long-since been converted into a community center, and Blue is consistently working to keep them away from the Viridian City gym, where Team Neo-Rocket wants to search for any artifacts relating to the old leader, Giovanni.
The Celadon Community center is also home to the Pokémon Fan Club, as they were ousted from their original location in Viridian City when Team Neo-Rocket took over. Vince, Viridian City’s gym leader, also tries to keep Team Neo-Rocket in check, but their primary function in the city is broadcasting, and he has a difficult time catching them doing anything more nefarious in the city itself. (However, they have managed to build a new headquarters under their small broadcasting studio, and manage much of their operations from there.)
Alongside controlling the Kanto region through fear and force, Team Neo-Rocket also aims to capture all of the region’s legendary Pokémon. They can be found going after the legendary birds, as well as searching for Mew and Mewtwo.
In fact, chasing after legendaries is where you will first encounter…
Dante, leader of Team Neo-Rocket
Dante first became a trainer by joining Team Rocket, and stayed with the organization until the defeat of the Rocket Executives by a couple powerful young trainers. He remembers his time with Team Rocket, and the control that the organization had, very fondly, and he is determined to return to that status quo. He’s also determined to make lots, and lots of money. Team Neo-Rocket will sell you Pokémon out of their broadcasting studio, and their lottery is pay-to-enter. They also have a deal with Vermillion City’s shop, and they receive a cut of all the money made there.
Legendary Pokémon hold the possibility of both money and power, and so Dante is hell-bent on getting as many legendaries under Team Neo-Rocket’s control as possible. In the Kanto region, his highest priorities are Mew and Mewtwo.
You first see Dante when Mew appears to you at Mt. Moon. He has only just managed to chase the Pokémon there, but is still unable to capture it. He dismisses you as a child and therefore not a threat at the time. He also asks you which way the Pokémon went. If you choose to lie, Mew teleports back briefly to wave at/thank you, but even if you tell Dante the truth, Mew will float back past you, heading the opposite direction, confirming that Dante has no hope of capturing the legendary Pokémon.
Dante is determined to catch Mewtwo, and, in doing so, rectify Team Rocket’s failure to keep control of the Pokémon in the first place. In stopping Dante from attempting to capture the legendary Pokémon, you will need to battle him.
Datne’s full team consists of Wynaut/Wobbuffet, Meowth/Persian, Ariados, Nidoking, and Crobat. He has made sure his team is built for capturing evasive legendaries, as Wynaut/Wobbuffet has the ability Shadow Tag, Ariados eventually learns the move Spider Web), and Crobat has the move Mean Look.
Even after you thwart Team Neo-Rocket’s efforts in Kanto, they expand their mission into Johto, where they continue to seek out legendary Pokémon for power and profit. Even if he has failed to capture Mew or Mewtwo, Dante has set his sights on the elusive Celebi…
Are you ready to take on the Kanto Pokémon League again? Check out more information under the cut.
Want to learn more? Check out the Memories of Kanto tag.
Though the badge case image has the gym leaders in their traditional order, you won’t be challenging them that way in Memories of Kanto. Since you begin your journey in Lavender Town, the gym challenge will be in the following order:
Gym Leader 1: Mariana (Cerulean City)
Mariana hasn’t been gym leader in Cerulean City for very long, and she has big shoes to fill! The layout of the gym has remained largely the same, with a large pool in the center of the room where the other trainers in the gym (a swimmer and a tuber) swim around until they spot you.
Once you defeat Mariana’s team of Poliwag and Goldeen, you have your first badge: the cascade badge.
Gym Leader 2: Torsten (Pewter City)
Pewter City gym has a straightforward design. It’s simply a rocky path where you will be challenged by two campers and a black belt.
When you reach Torsten, you’ll need to defeat his Onyx and Aerodactyl to win the boulder badge.
Gym Leader 3: Fina (Cinnabar Gym)
Fina has recently built her gym and science center on Cinnabar island, after the original gym was obliterated by an eruption of the island’s volcano. She’s here to research and monitor the island, and her gym is staffed by scientists and ruin maniacs. These trainers do have work to do, so they might just let you pass by unchallenged, as long as you answer their trivia questions correctly. I hope you know about type effectiveness and Pokémon evolution!
However, you can’t avoid taking on Fina’s Vulpix, Growlithe, Flareon. Once you defeat her, she will reward you with the volcano badge.
Gym Leader 4: Janine (Fuchsia City)
At first glance, Fuchsia City gym appears empty. However, this gym has trained ninjas for decades now, so no one is surprised that it is affectively booby-trapped. Trainers are hidden throughout the room, and you never know when you’ll be thrown into battle with a ninja boy, lass, or battle girl. Make sure you have a lot of antidotes on hand!
Janine’s team of Venonat, Nidorina, and Crobat, will surely leave you poisoned, but if you survive the battle you’ll receive the soul badge.
You’ll also receive congratulations from the retired ninja master Koga, who has great faith in his daughter’s abilities. If you talk to him prior to challenging her, he will share some information about poison types with you, though he is skeptical of your odds against Janine.
Gym Leader 5: Vince (Vermillion City)
Vince keeps a much more relaxed gym than his mentor, Lt. Surge. The gym has now been fitted with colorful, musical tiles; if you step on all of the tiles of a given color in the gym, following them from front to back, they’ll play a tune together and turn off one of the rungs in the electric fence blocking off Vince’s stage. Following the musical paths will definitely put you in the sights of the gym’s trainers: a sailor, a juggler, and an idol, who mention that they are also a lead guitarist, keyboardist, and master Metal vocalist, respectively.
Vince compliments you on your musical chops when you reach him, and compares the support a gym leader gives to trainers–both his friends in the gym and the challengers that come from across the region–to the easily-overlooked importance of a bass guitar in a rock song. Once you’ve defeated his Pikachu, Lanturn, Magnezone, and Ampharos you’ll be rewarded with the thunder badge.
Gym Leader 6: Murdoch (Saffron City)
The youngest gym leader in Kanto, Murdoch works hard to be professional. He has turned the nine rooms built into the gym into a shadowy mirror-maze. It’s dark and difficult to navigate, and you will be challenged by school kids and mediums as you work towards Murdoch. (The school kids aren’t subtle about being Murdoch’s battle buddies, and the mediums are similarly un-subtle that they all look upon Murdoch as their adopted grandson and they’re very proud of him. Some will laud his world travels and interest in staying up-to-date with the newest Pokémon discoveries.)
Murdoch is impressed that you reach him, and even more impressed when you defeat his Haunter, Mimikyu, Mismagius, and Gengar. Somewhat begrudgingly, he will give you the marsh badge.
Gym Leader 7: Erika (Celadon City)
Erika takes pride in the upkeep of her flowering maze of a gym. In fact, at one of the windows outside a young girl gazes longingly at the beautiful trainers in the gym. These trainers include a lass, an aroma lady, a beauty, and a pair of ace trainers.
Erika’s team of Victreebel, Jumpluff, Bellossom, and Tangrowth are formidable, but if you can beat them you’ll receive the rainbow badge, and then there’s only one gym left.
Gym Leader 8: Blue (Viridian City)
Blue has done his grandad proud (if you talk to the retired Professor Oak in Pallet Town he’ll tell you as much!) by becoming a major facet of the community in Viridian City. He has taken well to being a gym leader, though he’ll playfully taunt challengers until or unless they defeat him. He’s built his gym to prepare trainers for the variety of his team, a stark contrast to the rest of Kanto’s gym leaders. You’ll need to navigate through a stream, a grassland, and some rocky terrain to reach Blue, and on the way you’ll battle a variety of ace trainers, all with Pokémon themed to the terrain (water and ice along the stream, grass and bug in the grasslands, and fire, rock, and ground type in the rocky terrain).
Blue will grant you the earth badge once you defeat his team of Rhydon, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Arcanine, Blastoise, which is no small feat. Now that you have all eight badges, he’ll wish you luck against the elite four and the champion. You’ll need it: Blue has never been able to defeat the champion, and not for lack of trying.
I also made Vs. sprites for Mariana, Torsten, Fina, Vince, and Murdoch to be able to make the badge case, but you can’t actually see much of them there, and I spent way too much time on them not to include them, so here they are:
A noble, quiet town.
Welcome to Lavender Town, where your journey begins!
There aren’t too many residents in Lavender Town, but many travelers pass through to see the House of Memories, where Pokémon are laid to rest, or the radio tower. The tower broadcasts across the region with all the latest hits and hottest news, from exceptional Pokémon and trainers, mysterious thefts, and the Pokémon Professor’s annual trip around the region to encourage young trainers to explore Kanto. In fact, today she’ll be in Lavender Town!
You are one of two kids in town that are old enough to start their adventure. The other is Indigo.
You grew up together, and he is absolutely determined to be the region’s greatest trainer. He does share his name with the Kanto league, after all. Maybe he could even surpass the world-renowned champion! There’s no way he’ll be late to meet the professor, and he’s dragging you along with him. Your mom encourages you to be safe as you rush out of the house. Remember, don’t go into tall grass! You’ll have your own Pokémon to protect you soon enough, but until then it’s still not safe.
He predicts that the Professor will enter from the west side of town, coming from Saffron City. It is the region’s biggest, busiest city, after all. So, you wait (im)patiently at the edge of town, by a patch of tall grass. Indigo paces back and forth before declaring that the Professor is late! You can respond with either “It’s an outrage!” or, “She is?” Both of Indigo’s responses reveal that she is not, in fact, especially behind schedule: “A whole 63 seconds! Can you believe it?” or “…by 63 seconds. And maybe my watch is just fast. But still…”
Unable to wait any longer, Indigo proposes a plan: the Professor will definitely be impressed with you both if you’re brave enough to go into the tall grass without a Pokémon and meet her on Route 8 before she even reaches town! To prove his point, Indigo runs into the grass and encourages you to come with him. Whether you follow him or turn back toward town, you are interrupted.
???: “That’s not a great idea, kid. A good Pokémon trainer knows how to be patient.”
An adult walks over to you, and Indigo immediately recognizes her as Professor Leaf Orchid. Turns out, she recognizes you both as well. She explains that Saffron City’s exit onto Route 8 is currently blocked up, so she came from Vermillion City/down Route 12 instead. She takes you back into town and asks you if you’re ready to receive a partner Pokémon. Of course both you and Indigo are absolutely stoked, but since all the best trainers know how important patience is, Indigo suggests that you choose first.
Before Professor Orchid shows you the starter Pokémon, she wants to ask you a few questions.
When faced with a challenge do you face it with gusto, or step back and analyze?
On a day off, do you prefer to go somewhere fun or stay home and relax?
What’s most exciting to you about going on your Pokémon adventure? Challenging as many trainers as possible, or catching as many Pokémon as possible?
If you choose more of the first options, Professor Orchid says that, “You will be a powerful trainer.” If you choose more of the second options, she says that, “You will be a friend to Pokémon.” And, regardless, she gives you the choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. She also asks you if you want to nickname your starter once you have made your choice. Professor Orchid then turns to Indigo and asks him the same questions (though they are not repeated in text for the player’s convenience), and tells him that he will be a powerful trainer. Indigo will choose the starter with type advantage over yours, and insist that the two of you battle.
When the battle is over, Professor Orchid congratulates the winner and gives you both Pokédexes to catalogue the Pokémon you encounter in your travels. She also lets you know that she is headed for Cerulean city, and will be happy to help you out if you meet her on Route 10. But first, you should probably head back home before you head out into the Kanto wilderness.
When you get home your mom is excited to meet your new Pokémon and makes sure you’re prepared for your adventure with a fully healed Pokémon, running shoes, and a map of the region installed on your Pokédex. She also wonders if you’ll take on the gym challenge.
When you next leave your house, you run into Indigo who is still very, very excited. He points out that, now that you’re both trainers, the town’s Pokémon center will heal your Pokémon and the Poké-mart will sell you items! He also asks if you want to know more about either building. (You cannot use either building normally prior to receiving your starter. Once you have your starter Nurse Joy will heal your Pokémon as normal. The Poké-mart cashiers won’t sell you anything until you talk to the professor on route 10. If you do enter either building before then, the people behind the counter will greet you by name and ask if you’re excited to meet the professor, or, at the Poké-mart, if your mother sent you to buy something.) Indigo then says he won’t waste any time starting his gym challenge, and rushes off to the north of town and route 10.
When you reach the north edge of town and step onto route 10 you will be stopped by Professor Orchid. And you will end up heading north, as you are blocked from entering Saffron City from Route 8 (which also only has one patch of tall grass that is accessible without HM01 Cut) and there is a sleeping fisherman blocking the way onto Route 12. When she stops you, Professor Orchid asks if you know about the gym challenge and how to catch Pokémon. If requested, she will explain the gym system in detail and/or provide a tutorial on catching Pokémon. At the end of the conversation, whether or not you accept her help, she will give you 6 Pokéballs and wish you good luck against the eight gym leaders.
Now you’re fully prepared to begin your travels! Enter the caves on Route 10, and head for Cerulean City!
Pokémon Game Kanto Trio VS. PokéSpe Kanto Squad
My take on the Kanto Quartet in the new sygna suits.
I will probably clean these sketches on a later date.
Pokémon Aesthetics|Lavender Town
“The Town Oozing With Nobleness”
